hardwood floor finishes, curing time

9 years ago

Summer 2011, had white oak installed in 1st floor kitchen, hall, powder room to match existing oak elsewhere by reputable firm with great reviews. 1 coat Glitsa--semi-gloss was recommended. 2nd coat was to be satin--came home to find another shiny floor! So 3rd coat satin, but that had murky whitish spots, so down went a 4th coat. Unfortunately, a guest brought a dog to a party shortly after it was finished, so the scratch saga began. Seems like everything made scratches in the floor, and i got it because I had it previously and loved it. installer finally suggested maybe i had a brittle batch, and they would redo. Waited a long time; finally had them redo yesterday, all but the family room area two steps down from kitchen, since it didn't need it. When floor guy said, "semi gloss?" I said, "No, satin." "There are all kinds of finishes." "Well, just make this finish match the family room--satin". Came home again to SHINY, PLUS SWIRL MARKS and some footprints! I am sick. Guy wants to redo this week. Considering Glitsa takes 2 weeks to cure, I am VERY wary of redoing so soon, as believe I should wait that 2 weeks before having them scuff up the floor again. I did call to reschedule, but will take any information you experts have regarding this matter. At this point, I wish I hadn't had the floor done again. Thanks.

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Comments (7)

gregmills_gw
9 years ago
The only coat you need to worry about sheen is the final coat. Lots of people me included use gloss for first or second coats.

Are you concerned their coming too fast to apply the last coat? Dont be. Glista states you can do i think up to 2 coats in a 24 hr period. You dont have wait 2 weeks invetween coats.

As for the footprints if they know about it they should be able to get them out. And the swirls depending on how bad they are the Satin coat will hide a lot of stuff. Gloss makes everything show. Wait until the last coat has dried to be concerned about swirls.
homebody
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the info. I was concerned about yet another coat because I was originally told that 5 coats was kind of the limit for Glitsa...then they'd have to sand and not just scuff.
And I also was concerned about the 2nd coat so soon because 3 years ago they did wait a number of days in between coats I didn't want him to be coming out too soon, just to be done with it, and me, and not do it the right way.
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You need to do a little more archeological digging still. You need to know the whole construction of the floor before you can decide how best to install something new. I'd take up that plywood piece in the kitchen and see what's under it. It's higher than the surrounding floor, so needs to go. You should also be able to see from there what subfloor is under the original kitchen hardwood. It's too bad the space under your entryway is finished, but I'd still do some exploring from below to see what's under there, and to figure out the fix to stop it from squeaking. Is it drywall below or a drop ceiling? I know it probably seems like a pain to tear out drywall, but if you cut out a clean patch, like 2' x the width of the joists, it'll be relatively simple to repair. Just make sure to cut it down the center of the joists so that there's room to screw the patch piece to it later. Cut the hole under the area that squeaks the most, if you can. Have someone walk on and watch the floor from below to see what's moving. It might be as simple as pounding in a couple shims from below, or face-nailing a loose board from above. You want to find out what's underneath the hardwood. It might be laid directly on the floor joists, or there might be 10" wide boards that the hardwood is nailed to. Another thought is to take out a board in the hallway, since that's not original and you want to replace it. See what the subfloor is there. I am a bit puzzled at why, when you've stripped the kitchen down to the original hardwood, it's still higher than the hallway floor. Is your current surface perhaps not the original kitchen hardwood? Peeling back the plywood area will help determine that. BTW, I haven't heard of that stop squeaking product you linked to, so can't offer any personal opinion. And don't pour self-leveling compound over top of hardwood. It needs to go over plywood.
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gregmills_gw
9 years ago
5 coats of anything is getting close to the limit for site finishes.

How many do you currently have 4? Its getting a little worrysome that they still havent been able to fix issues. But i guess gotta let them try.

Hopefully the do a thorough scuff job.
homebody
Original Author
9 years ago
4 finishes done in '11. #5 two days ago. The 'fix' will then be six.

when floor guy called yesterday to schedule the next coat, I asked about the # of finishes--he replied more coats is better. he is the one who said five max 3 years ago.
User
9 years ago
Which Glitsa product are they using? It looks like Glitsa has about 8 different topcoat products.
homebody
Original Author
9 years ago
Unfortunately, I don't know which product. Even the original quote indicated only 'Glitsa Swedish Finish.' I checked the Glitsa website and I can't figure out which one. Don't know if this will help--I was told to let it dry (stay out of the house) at least 6 hours after completion, then air out for a time b4 entering. Even the next day, with windows open over 12 hours, the fumes lingered.
Definitely was not the kind that could have a 2nd coat applied the same day. And if that's 'lite scent' I'd be surprised.
User
9 years ago
Well, that rules out water-borne finish.
If it smells really horrible, it may be an acid curing finish which is commonly referred to Swedish Finish. Due to the smell and it being tricky to use, we haven't used it in years. It's an excellent wearing product. It looks like there's a newer product that's a little more used friendly:
http://glitsa.com/professionals/product/glitsa-multikote-finish/
It looks like it comes in 4 gloss levels:
http://glitsa.com/media/MultiKote-Product-Sheet.pdf

The issues you've highlighted seem to be unrelated. The milkiness may have been a chemical issue. The scratching is curious because old Glitsa customers rave about their finish. The swirl scratches are due to poor sanding or coating technique.

When we were using Glitsa it was a combination of Bacca Sealer and Gold Seal. If something came out wrong with the Gold Seal, it was a real hassle.
http://glitsa.com/media/goldSealSpec.pdf

From Glitsa's website you can access all the data sheets for their products.
http://glitsa.com/professionals/products/

The MultiKote can be recoated right away. The Gold Seal requires a 90 day wait or after a week one can apply another coat of one of their sealer than a coat of Gold Seal.

hardwood floor finishes, curing time

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hardwood floor finishes, curing time

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